Shane Bollig identified in third fatality in Fremont County area of the Arkansas River within a week

By Christy Steadman

steadmanc@canoncitydailyrecord.com

Posted:
06/17/2014 06:26:59 PM MDT

A portion of the Arkansas River. Tuesday, the body of a missing fisherman, identified as Shane Bollig, 42, of Cañon City was recovered from the Arkansas River. (Brandon Hopper / Daily Record)

The body of a missing fisherman, identified as Shane Bollig, 42, of Cañon City was recovered from the Arkansas River at 12:17 p.m. Tuesday.

Bollig's body was "located and recovered by Arkansas Headwaters rangers who were floating the river looking for the victim," states a release issued by the Fremont County Sheriff's Office. The release states that the body was found about "1.26 miles downstream from where (Bollig) disappeared."

The FCSO issued a press release Monday evening stating it was notified at about 5:20 p.m. Monday of a Cañon City man who disappeared in the Arkansas River while fishing with a friend.

According to the release, the two men were fishing the river east of Florence, "approximately two miles east of the Holcim bridge on Colo. 120."

Bollig reportedly "waded into the river to rescue his dog" and was able to assist "the dog back to the river bank, but then (Bollig) disappeared in the fast moving water and was not seen again," states the release.

Bollig's friend reported the incident to the Florence Police Department after searching the river, according to the release, and foul play is not suspected.

According to the release, two sheriff's deputies immediately launched a private helicopter to search the river where the subject was last seen to the Pueblo Reservoir, but the air search was unsuccessful.

An aerial search also was conducted Tuesday morning, but searchers were unable to see the body because it was reportedly "lodged under debris in the river," states the release.

Advertisement

Bollig's death is the third fatal accident within a week occurring in Fremont County involving the Arkansas River.

Saturday, Christopher Sevilla, 44, of Colorado Springs, died on a rafting trip with Raft Masters in the Royal Gorge section of the Arkansas River.

According to a press release issued by the FCSO, Sevilla had been having "some type of respiratory problems before he and five other rafters were tossed out of a commercial raft while negotiating rough waters in the gorge." The release states that Sevilla floated down river some distance before he was pulled to shore unresponsive.

The FCSO was notified at about 1:30 p.m. by Colorado Parks and Wildlife rangers who were performing CPR on Sevilla, according to the release.

Sevilla was placed on the Royal Gorge Route Railroad train and was pronounced dead when the train arrived at the South First Street crossing, states the release.

A man from Enid, Okla., identified as Van Hodges, 48, drowned June 10 while on a rafting trip with Royal Gorge Rafting in Bighorn Sheep Canyon near the Salt Lick Recreation Site.

FCSO Capt. Don Pinover said the raft Hodges was in "went up on its side as it was going through some rough water." A press release issued by the FCSO states that the raft "hit a stretch of rough water, causing five of the seven people in the raft to be tossed into the river."

The release states that four of the rafters were able to be assisted back into the raft, but "Hodges was apparently pulled under water for several minutes by the river's current before he surfaced and was pulled to shore by rescuers from the rafting company." Efforts to revive Hodges were unsuccessful, according to the release.

The raft that Hodges and his family occupied was one of several part of the same group, and two safety kayakers were accompanying the group of rafters, according to the release.

Both Hodges and Sevilla were wearing their safety gear of helmets and personal flotation devices during the rafting trips.

Tuesday, the Colorado Parks and Wildlife also issued a press release on a body that was recovered from the Arkansas River on Monday in Pueblo County.

The release states that "the body was recovered from the water around noon" by Colorado Parks and Wildlife officers.

According to the release, two men "who were boating in the area on Sunday evening" reported having found a body "on State Wildlife Area property near South Swallows Road."

"It is suspected that the victim (had) been deceased for several days" and that "physical identification (is) difficult" because "the body had been in the water for a period of time," according to the release.

The release states that "no foul play is suspected" in the incident.

The Pueblo County coroner will perform an autopsy to "determine cause of death and identify the victim," states the release.

Article Comments

We reserve the right to remove any comment that violates our ground rules, is spammy, NSFW, defamatory, rude, reckless to the community, etc.

We expect everyone to be respectful of other commenters. It's fine to have differences of opinion, but there's no need to act like a jerk.

Use your own words (don't copy and paste from elsewhere), be honest and don't pretend to be someone (or something) you're not.

Our commenting section is self-policing, so if you see a comment that violates our ground rules, flag it (mouse over to the far right of the commenter's name until you see the flag symbol and click that), then we'll review it.